A useful 1.4 kilometre cycle route (below in red) using a road formerly closed to through traffic has been degraded by the road being permanently reopened to traffic to provide a commuter rat-run avoiding the parallel Avon Ring Road. The once attractive cycle route linked Frenchay with the University of the West of England (UWE) on Bristol's north-eastern fringe in South Gloucestershire. Cyclists now have to compete for space with rat-running traffic or use a narrow footway with blind corners.
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5 comments:
yes chris, south glos should be very embarrassed about this £120,000 waste of tax payer's money. Remember the photocall in the EP when it opened?
The shared path is completely useless as it crosses several driveways and abandons users at the most vulnerable points - the bridge and the uphill narrow end near UWE.
I cycle this way regularly and never see any bikes on it. Despite traffic whizzing along here at 50mph, cyclists prefer to stay on the road.
This road is dangerous for another reason - cars apparently nip through the hotel car park from the ring road, emerging onto filton road from the hotel car park's other entrance. I know of two cyclists who have been knocked from their bikes at speed like this. Cars turn right across cyclists riding down the fairly steep hill there but visibility is partly obscured by a large canvas sign erected by the hotel. This needs moving, plus measures to prevent cars shortcutting through the car park.
Filton Road, if it is to be open to through traffic, needs serious traffic calming and the removal of the ludicrous shared path.
Steve Meek
Thanks for the feedback Steve. It's really valuable to have reports from regular users of these routes, especially those using the routes at peak times. Any other comments gratefully received.
I agree with steve meek, the hotel shortcut to UWE is danger. Why not remove the right hand turn sign there? Better yet, why is there so much parking at UWE?
Its a rat run to save going through a set of lights but you end up filtering onto the main road anyway... pointless. When I go for a run along this route I see cars blasting up and down this road, at least the new pavement makes it less of a hazard.
-GJP
After trying the Eastward route on the road a few times without too many problems, I experienced this farcility fully for the first time this morning.
What a cynical waste of money.
Instead of laying half a mile of unnecessary pavement clearly intended to keep cyclists out of the way of cars, they actually needed 50 feet or so at the UWE end to keep the inevitable traffic jam out of the "advisory" cycle lane - it was totally impassable this morning. (there is, as it happens, some sort of construction work going on along there - though it isn't clear "what it is yet" ...)
They could have removed the pavement on the other side to fit it in - just enough to let cyclists get safely past those daft enough to choose to commute a few miles hermetically sealed in a tin box.
The two pedestrians I had to squeeze past on the way didn't seem at all happy.
Totally useless and I will treat it with the contempt it deserves and work out how to get around the obstacles.
I will start taking photos and video tomorrow ...
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